In a true
democracy local government officials wouldn't feel obliged to issue a press release when
a senior planner speaks their mind.
However
that's what happened when Dublin City Council Senior Planner Kieran Rose said
that Minister Kelly ‘has been bamboozled
by certain powerful vested property interests.’ Rose was referring to Kelly's newly published Design Standards for New Apartments which roll back on improvements made under previous Governments.
The Council under Chief
Executive Owen Keegan issued a press release saying that “The comments, while made in a personal capacity, are both
inappropriate and regrettable and do not reflect the views and opinions of
management of the City Council.” If that isn't a slap-down then what
is? Group think and the 'uno duce, una voce' approach is
precisely what got Ireland into difficulty in the first place. We're in trouble
if public servants aren't allowed speak their mind. The etymology of
bamboozle lies in the French word embabouiner "to
make a fool (literally 'baboon') of, and there is certainly a Neanderthal
feel to those who are arguing for lower standards. Let's not forget that some
years ago the Construction Industry Federation argued against mandatory
insulation in new homes, saying it would drive up the price of housing. These
same vested interests clearly have the ear of their Minister.
If
Labour's Kelly really wants to increase housing supply he should spend more
time talking to the European Investment Bank to release funding for housing. He
could also legislate to ensure that a portion of semi-state pension funds are
invested in new homes. It seems crazy that when there's over a billion euro in
CIE pension funds yet none of these monies are obliged to be invested in
housing as they are in other jurisdictions. He must also sit down with Credit
Unions, Trade Unions and other bodies to ensure that they too play their part
in tackling the housing crisis. He could modify the much heralded 'Living City' scheme for older buildings that has been spectacularly unsuccessful. Finally (dare I mention it) he could allocate
sufficient funds to local authorities so that they can build as much housing as they did in previous
times when there were housing shortages.
It would
be shameful if Labour's legacy in the Customs House were to be smaller apartments,
lower ceilings, less storage space, and new homes with no access to sunlight, yet
this is now set to happen under Alan Kelly's watch. Kelly has bought into the 'starter homes' and 'first time buyers' language that characterised Liam Carroll's Zoe shoe-box apartments back in the last century. Five years ago the
Government that I was part of phased out bedsits. Now, thanks to Alan Kelly
they are on the way back. Earlier this year when a u-turn on bedsits was first
mooted ALONE – a housing and advocacy charity for the vulnerable stated that
they campaigned “against this type of
accommodation for over 30 years and we don’t want to go back. We would be
concerned that it would be the most vulnerable who would be forced into this
type of accommodation, often located in old buildings with sub-standard conditions.
ALONE believes the government needs to look at long term strategic solutions to
providing quality housing instead of short term reactions to the current crisis.”
It seems curious that the Labour Party isn’t
doing more to provide quality state-built homes as they did when in Government
previously.
The Urban Regeneration and
Housing Act 2015 introduces a vacant land levy to put pressure on land hoarders
to build and make best use of their lands but its introduction had been long-fingered
until 2018. If this provision was enacted sooner it might put pressure on
land-owners to make better use of their sites to apply for planning permission
and build the housing that is so badly needed. Further back-peddling is underway
with the repeal of the new windfall/betterment tax of 80% on trading profits
and capital gains arising from disposals of land that was built into the
National Asset Management Act. This provision was a positive development to
deter speculation and yet Fine Gael and Labour removed this provision in the
2014 Finance Act. This will encourage speculative rezoning and higher land and
housing prices.
Minister
Kelly hasn't provided for any public consultation prior to making these new
standards. This means his changes may be in breach of the Aarhus Convention
which states that Government shall endeavour to provide opportunities for
public participation in the preparation of policies relating to the environment
including housing. This one could run and run.
